Irma M. Cox

1920 - 2011

Irma was born Jan. 27, 1920, to Paul Henry and Clara Elizabeth (Schraub Lockridge) Obendorfat at their Roswell, Idaho homestead.
She was 91 years old when she died peacefully in her sleep due to congestive heart failure on Monday, March 28.
In her teen years, she was on the Roswell High School girlsbasketball team and sang in the Roswell Lutheran Church choir. She graduated from Roswell in 1938.
After graduation, Irma picked fruit and worked at odd jobs. Later, she and her sister, Doris (Obendorf) Kindall, decided to share an apartment in Caldwell where they went to work for Evan's Fishing Fly Factory.
Irma packed fishing hooks and played on Evan's softball team. She met her lifelong soul mate, Orville R. Cox, while playing a softball game.
During the evenings she attended Nampa Business School and after her completion of studies, she began working in the credit office for Montgomery Ward, in Nampa. Orville and Irma dated and were married Aug.15, 1941 in Redondo Beach, Calif. Several months later, they moved to Bremerton, Wash., where Orville worked in the Naval shipyards during World War II. They had their daughter, Pauline in Bremerton and moved back to Caldwell after the war was over.
In 1949, they started their own business, Cox Auto Repair Service, in Caldwell where she was the bookkeeper and the "official parts chaser." They had two more children Darrell, and Marlene.
While the children were in grade school, she was an active member of the Parent and Teacher's Association and taught Sunday school for the Grace Lutheran Church. During the summer months, Orville and Irma enjoyed their family weekend camping trips all over Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. They also hunted and enjoyed square and round dancing.
Irma also was on the Caldwell Election Board and worked at the elections. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, knitting, crocheting and tying homemade fishing flies. Irma helped Orville sell Forever Living Aloe products.
They officially retired in 1979 and traveled with the Beaver Coach motor home group and the Good Sam's Club to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California and Mexico. Around 1986, they purchased a couple of lots at Country Roads Recreational Park in Yuma, Ariz., where spent 20 plus winters. They were one of the first occupants of the park, and enjoyed all the activities such as playing cards and dancing. They also became excellent pool players. Every Sunday while at the park, Irma and Orville served coffee and donuts before church.
After 30 years of recreating, they decided it was time to stop traveling south. In the fall of 2008, they moved to Sunny Ridge Retirement Center in Nampa. They were truly lifelong soul mates. Orville passed away in January 2009, and Irma remained living at the center. She kept busy doing crossword puzzles, playing Bingo, attending all the programs, and participating in the center's Bell Choir. Both were members of the Grace Lutheran Church, Caldwell.
Irma was preceded in death by her parents, Paul and Clara Obendorf; half-brothers, Glenn Lockridge and Wilson Lockridge; husband, Orville Cox, and daughter, Marlene (Cox) Kikel.
Her survivors are her sister, Doris (Obendorf) Kindall of Caldwell; daughter, Pauline (Cox Petersen) Jones and husband, William (Bill), Boise; son, Darrell Cox and wife Caroline, Snohomish, Wash.; grandchildren, Kim (Petersen) Hutchens, Boise, Kari (Petersen) Maskell, Coeur d'Alene, Martin P. Petersen, Portugal, Rebecca (Cox) Carroll, Los Angeles, Calif., Sarah (Cox) Brophyand husband, Michael, Snohomish, Wash., Jennifer (Kikel) Wells, Murray, Utah, and Jon Kikel and wife Heather, Newport Coast, Calif.; great-grandchildren, Jeff and Jaclyn Hutchens, Ryan and Zachary Maskell, Hayden Brophy, and Lauren and Jenna Wells.
Friends and family are invited to attend Irma's viewing on Friday, April 1, 2011 from 7 to 9 p.m., at Flahiff Funeral Chapel, 624 Cleveland Blvd., Caldwell. Celebration of life services will held Saturday, April 2, 2011, at 10 a.m., at Flahiff Funeral Chapel.
After the service, there will be a processional to Canyon Hill Cemetery for a graveside prayer service.
The family would like to thank the employees at Sunny Ridge Retirement Center in Nampa for their personal assistance and care of Irma and Orville; and the end-of-life care provided by Legacy Hospice.
In memory of Irma, donations can be made to the Sunny Ridge Activities Fund, 2609 Sunnybrook Drive, Nampa, ID 83636; or to Legacy Hospice Foundation, 680 S. Progress Ave., Meridian, ID 83642.
Please sign Irma's online guestbook at www.flahifffuneralchapel.com.